Klosterarkæologi og Sorø-studier

Resumé

Monastic Archaeology and Sorø studies.

By Jes Wienberg

Monastic archaeology is an internationally established research field which need not be confined to the Middle Ages, to medieval archaeology alone, nor within the borders of nations. Five themes can be identified in the research history of monastic archaeology since the 19th century: building history, burials and hospitals, economics and landscapes, techniques and crafts, and gender and nunneries. However, in three current research projects on monasteries in Sweden – Alvastra, Vreta and Dalby –other, more multidisciplinary themes appear. The conditions for new studies on the Cistercian monastery of Sorø are excellent, taking into account the preserved church, the wall-paintings, inventories, burials and the known written sources on donations and the property of the monastery. The church and monastery are furthermore documented in several classic publications. The focus of the conference on Sorø in 2011 was on the history and use of the church and monastery. The building history is a well-known theme, whereas the question of use is partly new. After the fall of the Berlin Wall we have seen a »religious turn« re-establishing the archaeology of religion, and thereby bringing ritual and liturgy to the forefront of research. Their use and users are also in focus, in line with the last decade’s interest in questions of agency. Finally, several possible themes not presented at the conference are introduced here as suggestions for future research: an overview of the history and development of the island of Sorø from the unpublished excavations and investigations of the past few decades; places and agents from before the monastery, for example in the Iron Age; places and agents in the period of the monastery, especially the locations of Fjenneslev, Bjernede and Pedersborg; the property of the monastery in a landscape perspective from written sources combined with the wallpaintings; the building history and use of the parish churches belonging to the monastery; and the study of the Cistercian »family« of monasteries – as viewed in Clairvaux in France.